City Bikes President Tim Calvert Hosts Right-Wing Bomber

This Sunday, September 9, the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance plans to host a potluck and gathering at Sellwood Park in Oregon. In its event announcement, the 9/11 Truth Alliance mentions that this gathering will feature "an extra interesting participant." The participant in question, Fritz Springmeier, is an individual deeply connected to antisemitic, white nationalist, and militant anti-choice organizing. Springmeier is an extreme-Right activist who served a nine-year prison sentence for a bank robbery with a neo-Nazi accomplice, Forrest Bateman. Springmeier and Bateman also bombed an adult video store. This year's 9/11 Truth Alliance gathering at Sellwood Park is the second time that the Alliance has hosted Fritz Springmeier, having also featured Springmeier as a key speaker at a September 2011 "Continuing Education for Dissident Citizens" event held at Sellwood Community Center, the same year that Springmeier was released from prison.

Tim Calvert represents the 9/11 Truth Alliance at a January 2011 protest

The Springmeier events fit with the overall politics of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance. The Alliance has previously organized support for other racist extreme-Right organizers, as our organization for example pointed out in 2009 when the 9/11 Truth Alliance hosted self-described "white separatist" Valdas Anelauskas in Portland, and when a few months later the Alliance sent a contingent to support the Portland tour stop of notorious Holocaust-denier and Naziphile, David Irving. A central organizer for the Valdas Anelauskas event in 2009, Tim Calvert, has recently stepped up his activism with the 9/11 Truth Alliance once again. Calvert's activism involves both organizing of events for far-Right speakers, and also his own spreading of antisemitic propaganda. Rose City Antifa believe that a key factor enabling Calvert's activism is the support he receives from his workplace at Citybikes Workers' Cooperative, as well as the apathy and tacit acceptance of large segments of the regional co-op movement towards Calvert's Judeophobic organizing.

Rose City Antifa aim in this report to provide some context about Fritz Springmeier and Springmeier's associations, as well as to discuss the politics of the 9/11 Truth Alliance and Tim Calvert's return to public far-Right activism. We hope that the information we provide here is used to finally take the president of Citybikes Workers' Cooperative to account, after more than three years of negligence and denial within Citybikes and the broader West Coast co-op movement about Calvert's anti-Jewish agitation.

Fritz Springmeier

Fritz Springmeier is an Oregon-based conspiracy theorist and author of such books as Bloodlines of the Illuminati. Springmeier's works attempt to draw attention to what he perceives as massive conspiracies for global domination by hidden cabals and their "Illuminati" bloodlines. Springmeier's research focuses in particular on family names such as the Rothschilds, commonly used as stand-ins for "the Jews" within antisemitic conspiracy discourse. However, Springmeier is far from shy about his beliefs concerning Jewish power, arguing for example that "the core of the conspiracy of power is Jewish" in Bloodlines.

With politics such as these, Fritiz Springmeier once fit right in within the Christian Patriot Association (CPA), a racist group once headquartered in Boring, Oregon. The CPA itself fell apart with the conviction of six of its members on fraud charges in 2002, these charges stemming from a warehouse bank operated by the CPA. In earlier times, however, the CPA was a major force on the Oregon far-Right for over a decade. Prominent members of the CPA such as Jeff Weakley of God's Remnant Church also promoted "Christian Identity" theology, arguing that white Europeans and Euro-Americans are the true chosen people of scripture, with modern Jewish people being imposters. Springmeier himself is favorable towards some varieties of Christian Identity thought, arguing that many Identity adherents operate under a "Christian perspective and place themselves under the authority of God."

Within the Christian Patriots Association, Springmeier also met Forrest Bateman. Bateman was at one point a bonehead (racist pseudo-"skinhead") who in 1989 was convicted of racially intimidating a high school student in Forest Grove. In 1997, Springmeier and Bateman both took part in a bank robbery, which they were later arrested and convicted for. The October 1997 bank robbery involved a diversionary pipe bombing of an adult video store to draw away police attention prior to the hold-up of a Key Bank branch. The Damascus, Oregon robbery netted just $6000. The choice of an adult video store as a diversionary bombing target is reminiscent of the earlier targeting of adult businesses in the Pacific Northwest by The Order/Silent Brotherhood neo-Nazi terrorist group during the 1980s.

Springmeier and Bateman were not linked by investigators to the Damascus bank robbery until several years after the incident. In February 2001, a property near Sandy, Oregon was raided, with 50 marijuana plants, grow equipment, plus a significant haul of weapons seized. Forrest Bateman and two other people were arrested following the raid. Also seized during this raid was a binder marked "Army of God, Yahweh's Warriors." The Army of God is an anti-choice terrorist group responsible for arsons, bombings and assassinations targeting abortion providers. Fritz Springmeier himself was arrested following a later raid on his Corbett residence on March 1, 2001, and both Springmeier and Bateman were indicted the following year as information surrounding the 1997 armed bank robbery came to light in the aftermath of the raids. With the end of the Bateman and Springmeier trials, additional information about the contents of the "Army of God" binder found in 2001 also surfaced--according to one report, the binder contained a list that could have been targets for terrorist actions.

Springmeier supporters complain that their hero was simply a target of sinister forces who wished to shut him up about Illuminati mind control. The Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance gave Springmeier his first public speaking event following release from federal prison; a video of Springmeier's rambling speech recorded by event attendee Joe Anybody is available online.

Tim Calvert

While another member of the 9/11 Truth Alliance with his own long history of anti-Jewish activism--Tim Titrud--used his email to announce the 2011 "Continuing Education for Dissident Citizens" event at which Fritz Springmeier gave his presentation, Citybikes president Tim Calvert was also deeply involved. Calvert himself gave a presentation early at the Sellwood Community Center event, and a phone number used by Calvert was displayed on the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance website in promoting the 2011 Sellwood event. Rose City Antifa has also confirmed with Portland Parks & Recreation that the renter of space at Sellwood Community Center for the 9/11 Truth Alliance events in September 2011, as well as the person reserving space in Sellwood Park for the 9/11 Truth Alliance event on September 9 this year, is Tim Calvert.

Calvert has been highly public about his involvement with the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance over the last couple of years. Earlier, in 2009, Calvert had attempted to put some distance between himself and the 9/11 Truth Alliance, after Calvert was criticized for his central role in organizing a speaking event for racist Valdas Anelauskas in Portland. Calvert issued a pseudo-apology after that event was criticized by anti-fascists. In his response to what he called a "smear campaign," Calvert made a point of acknowledging "the Holocaust" only as one of many "horrors of WWII"--a line which is itself congruent with Holocaust-denial--and also suggested that Valdas Anelauskas had "good points." Around this time, Calvert also withdrew from the Laughing Horse Books collective, where he had initially attempted to host Anelauskas and where he had also earlier supported attempts by the 9/11 Truth Alliance to host homophobic and anti-choice extremist Mary Starrett at the venue. Citybikes itself responded to news about Calvert's antisemitic activism by first issuing a statement applauding Calvert and criticizing antifascists. The Citybikes co-op subsequently issued a revised statement retracting their initial attack, stating that it had not been approved by every member of the co-op, and stating that they recognized the need for communication. That same month, the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance sent a group to support a Portland appearance by Holocaust-denier David Irving. Calvert, in the spotlight because of his politics, did not attend the Irving event.

Calvert soon publicly joined back up with the same Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance, however. Within a few months Calvert had talked with Willamette Week reporter James Pitkin for a smear piece on Rose City Antifa, Calvert characterizing himself and others in the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance as victims of a shadowy campaign rather than as individuals taken to account for hosting a hardore antisemite. The following year, a joint Pacifica Forum-Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance flyer distributed against the 2010 Anti-Racist Action conference in Portland identified Tim Calvert as "one of us" and alleged that Rose City Antifa was complicit with "Zionists." Calvert identified himself yet again as a Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance member in January 2011, when a video posted on Youtube provided his organizational affiliation.

Apart from the Springmeier appearances, some other Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance guests whose appearances Calvert has promoted in recent years are Jim Fetzer, Leuren Moret, and Susan Lindauer. Jim Fetzer is a conspiracy theorist who publicly denies that he is an antisemite while recycling antisemitic myths such as those of "dancing Israelis" on 9/11/01, as well as promoting writings by antisemitic propagandists such as Benjamin Freedman. Leuren Moret is an anti-nuclear activist who believes that the 2011 major Japan earthquake and subsequent nuclear crises were actually caused by "tectonic nuclear warfare" on behalf of a "banker"/"British" conspiracy. (London bankers is yet another antisemitic shorthand, similar the use of "Zionists" when describing a global conspiracy.) In an online video Moret fulminates about conspiracies by the "Rothschilds," whereas in yet another she describes depleted uranium as "Zionist extermination." Susan Lindauer is best known for being accused of conspiracy on behalf of the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein. While perhaps not as rabid an antisemite as Fetzer or Moret, Lindauer argues that there was "Mossad complicity" in the 9/11/01 attacks, and she has also been featured on a number of antisemitic and white nationalist websites.

In his presentation of September 10, 2011--at the 9/11 Truth Alliance event Calvert booked and where Springmeier would later talk--Tim Calvert made his own politics clear once again. Calvert's presentation, allegedly on the topic of "Critical Thinking," is also available online, having been recorded and then circulated by videographer Joe Anybody. Calvert discusses the US media as being controlled by special interests, the example provided by Calvert being an NPR journalist who Calvert believes ought to have disclosed that she was married to an Israeli citizen and that she lives in Israel--this is a rather obvious attempt to invoke the "dual loyalties" antisemitic myth, and to suggest that the special interest in question behind the US media is a "Zionist"/Jewish one. Calvert then proceeds to cite as his support Alison Weir, the president of the Council for the National Interest infamous for pushing the modern blood libel that there is an Israeli conspiracy to harvest the organs of Palestinian children.

Calvert's presentation rambles about the Tavistock Institute, a UK institution who Calvert believes has its roots in a broader Jewish attempt (ostensibly because it is linked to a nephew of Freud) to manipulate British public opinion against Germany enough to pave the way for World War and for the WWII air bombings against German civilian targets. In Calvert's topsy-turvy world, WWII therefore becomes a narrative about Jews attacking Germans, not the other way around. With such remarks about Tavistock etcetera behind him, Calvert then makes the following characterization: "Rose City Antifa, otherwise known as the anonymous Zionist hit squad trained by Tavistock and resembling most closely Israeli settlers in the West Bank of Jerusalem. We all become Palestinians in Gaza when the Zionists declare you the enemy." It is clear from such commentary that Calvert is not interested in any actual criticism of Israeli state policies, but rather that he believes in a massive Jewish conspiracy with worldwide reach which caused everything from Britain's entering into World War II to antifascists now criticizing Calvert. This is extreme antisemitism, thoroughly consistent with Calvert's political direction for over half a decade.

Immediately following Calvert's 2011 presentation at the Sellwood Community Center space he booked, another panel featured 9/11 Truth activists discussing what they considered as "false flag" operations. Tim Titrud spoke out about "false flag" reports of anti-gay violence, singling out Matthew Shepard, who was tortured and murdered by two homophobic men in 1998. In Titrud's repulsive logic, he paints right-wing Christians as the true victims of a queer conspiracy to rob them of their right to be bigots. Richard Frager contributed some conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination. Ramping things up, Cathie Bell then talked about "Zionist" control of Congress, and about how the 2011 mass murder by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway was actually a "false flag"/mind control operation orchestrated by Israel to punish Norway for siding with the Palestinians. The footage of Calvert's political associates is available online as well.

Calvert, Citybikes and the Co-op Movement

In 2009, Rose City Antifascists warned of antisemitic agitation by Tim Calvert and the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance. We asked Citybikes, allegedly a business that is part of the progressive community, to hold Tim Calvert accountable for his hateful activism by firing the promoter of Holocaust deniers and "racialists". Citybikes stood by Calvert. While Citybikes retracted their initial clear statement of hostility to antifascists, the cooperative then replaced this with an alleged commitment to dialogue which of course led to them putting the issue aside and doing nothing. Tim Calvert subsequently felt confident to host yet another batch of far-Right speakers over the following three years, including Springmeier whose proximity to white supremacists and the Army of God has been documented. Citybikes Workers' Cooperative continued to put food on Calvert's plate. Calvert continued and escalated his antisemitic activism while remaining firmly ensconced in the presumed progressive co-op community.

Tim Calvert has stated why he believes that the cooperative movement is important from the position of his politics. In his online book review of William Sutton's Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution--a book alleging that financial cabals were behind the Bolshevik Revolution--Calvert writes that "my take on 'leftest' [sic] 'progressive' social movements would have been greatly altered" had he been exposed to this conspiracy book earlier: "Now it is clear that resistance to the New World Order must begin by breaking from as many connections you have with it as possible and that includes work, consumption and leisure. Controlling Local Markets is the only sure way of breaking from the globalists." Calvert here argues that movements such as the co-op movement are important as a way of resisting a vast global conspiracy, the same conspiracy that Calvert elsewhere describes as "Zionist." The Co-ops are important to Calvert because he now sees them as a tool of independence from Jewish control.

In general, the co-op movement on the West Coast has stood with Calvert. Many attempts were made by genuine anti-racists within the Western Worker Cooperative Conference (WWCC) to discuss Calvert's activities and to educate about antisemitism. Some members of the WWCC were sympathetic, but Calvert was never formally asked to leave the WWCC Board. The WWCC Board formally refused to discuss any reprimand for Calvert. Calvert nonetheless resigned from the Board of his own free will in early 2011, having never been censured. The clear majority position within WWCC leadership was that Calvert's star power within that community trumped his questionable political trajectory. In fact, Calvert's clout in these circles enables him to more effectively recruit and gives his proto-fascist leanings both cover and credibility. The WWCC website continues to pay tribute to Calvert as a conference founder, stating nothing about Calvert's extreme politics.

The WWCC stance demonstrates how co-op politics are not necessarily the same thing as anti-oppression politics. Even when anti-oppression politics are given lip service within the West Coast co-op movement, antisemitism generally is overlooked, considered as unimportant, or viewed as just a smear label unjustly applied across the board to critics of the Israeli state. Rose City Antifa has seen antisemitism be a common focus for various strains of far-right organizers to rally around, as in the Pacifica Forum where psuedo-intellectuals, conspiracy theorists, anti-choicers, and neo-Nazis would network around their shared hatred of Jews. We also view antisemitism such as Calvert's, which comes cloaked in Leftist trappings (anti-globalist language, anti-capitalist rhetoric, etc), as an entry point for some to an increasingly racist, sexist, and homophobic world view. Coded antisemitic talk about the "bankers" can be a palatable prelude to later indoctrination in the extreme Right. Our organization's experience has been that despite the good intentions of scattered individuals within it, opponents of antisemitism should expect no solidarity from the WWCC or the West Coast co-op movement in general.

Rose City Antifa sees it as politically important to work with those committed to turning the tide within the regional co-op movement over the long term. In the meantime we strongly condemn the support Citybikes and the co-op movement have extended to Tim Calvert, support that has translated to more Jew-haters and extreme-Right organizers being welcomed in Portland.

Rose City Antifa is an Anti-Racist Action chapter. The group's job is to oppose racist and fascist organizing. Tim Calvert is organizing racist speaking events. It actually makes all the sense in the world that RCA would go after the co-ops that have supported him, especially since he continues to organize racist speaking events. Antisemitism is real and just as serious as other kinds of racism. If Calvert were organizing NSM rallies, would you still support the co-op's decision to stand by their man?

It's actually in some ways MORE dangerous that he's doing it under the guise of being a "nice co-op guy" and not a "mean, scary, tattooed racist." He's doing the same thing, but because it comes in nicer packaging, the co-op doesn't see it as a serious issue. For that reason, he continues to keep his foothold, masquerading as a progressive "good guy" at work, while in his free time he's arranging for bigots to come spread hateful messages to broader and broader audiences of people.

Shame on City Bikes for not dealing with this problem when it first came up.

Additional information about the Christian Patriot Association, which Fritz Springmeier was involved within, may be found in Chapter 2, Section 2.13 of "The Northwest Imperative: Documenting a Decade of Hate" published in 1994 by the Coalition for Human Dignity & the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment.

FYI
I am looking for 911 Truth and "what really happened"... I'm on many email lists, and Im not hiding.
Does being on an email list make me to be a fascist / racist crypto-nazi?
I have filmed close to 1,000 events over a very wide array of topics and participants, and have learned a lot along the way.

3 years ago .... Did I know he was a right wing, (cough) racist, bomber ..."no"
Did I film the presentation 3 years ago... yes
Did you watch it... yes
Are you telling other about it?... yes
So whats your point, I filmed it and "you watched it"
Does that make you a DUMBASS too?
Nothing that was said at the time when I was filming, made me think "Hey this is racism fascism crypto-nazism".
I was looking and hoping to document the truth about 911 issues....period!

I don't know why you need to call me a crypto-nazi, racist, fascist, dumbass?
I'm trying to document activists who are standing up and people speaking truth to power for social justice.
None of the videos I have posted are encouraging racism or Nazism or pro militarism or anti-Semitism, etc.
What really are you motives, besides shit talking me on portland indymedia, whats the point of all this?
Do you know of any of my videos, or words I have written that are contray to what I am saying?

You hide behind a no name; calling me names [that are unwarranted and not even true.]
Basically you are lying about me on indymedia.
If what you say, makes me a DUMBASS, well good for you to be the one to say it.
Call me a dumbass but your slander is uncalled for.

Did I film a 911 Truth presentation 3 years ago ... yes I did.
Do I go to their meetings, organize, and plan their agenda and speakers... no never have.
I have filmed some of the 911 truth events but its been a few years, and none have been racist etc. (that I am aware of)
Do I support right wing racist fascists... hell no!

Do I support Antifa? I always considered my self to be in solidarity.
Is there information you want to share to help me out, feel free to share it...
At least I am willing to listen.
If you wanna call me names and make shit up about me, then I have nothing more to say.

"3 years ago .... Did I know he was a right wing, (cough) racist, bomber ..."no"
Did I film the presentation 3 years ago... yes
Did you watch it... yes
Are you telling other about it?... yes
So whats your point, I filmed it and "you watched it"
Does that make you a DUMBASS too?
Nothing that was said at the time when I was filming, made me think "Hey this is racism fascism crypto-nazism".
I was looking and hoping to document the truth about 911 issues....period! "

"Do you know of any of my videos, or words I have written that are contray to what I am saying? "

sorry dude the whole point of outing calvert(and titrud for that matter) is they've been very fucking careful about what they say publicly. they've been crypto nazis for years, only caught recently. and it's the associations that sunk them. you're nobody special. to quote another comment:

"Tim Calvert may be a radical, but he is not a left radical. I don't see any merit politically or personally in having solidarity with any old person that has some type of stance against the "system" or whatever. I guess that means you count the patriot movement, the Tea Party and the white nationalist crowd amongst your radical buddies. Well, just as long as they like bikes and dress like hippies right? "

you don't want to be mistaken for a fascist, STOP HANGING WITH THEM. GET OFF THEIR LISTS, STOP ATTENDING THEIR EVENTS AS A SUPPORTER.

no one's "making up" shit about you. it is all online. you support portland 9/11 truth alliance. you have for years. the only conclusion a logical person can make is you support their agenda. maybe you want to rethink that, and if you said something like, "yeah i was on their list because of 9/11 issues but didn't see until now their anti semite agenda. that sucks", that might fly.

but all this defensive shit indicates someone who knew and didn't expect to be called on it.

The event was not three years ago, it was Saturday, September 10, 2011 that Springmeier gave the talk you recorded and then later circulated. September 10, 2011 was one year and one day ago today.

You have certainly circulated antisemitic videos. You recorded and posted online Tim Calvert's speech also of September 10, 2011. That's the speech in which Calvert blames a Jewish conspiracy ("Tavistock") for bringing Britain into WWII and victimizing poor helpless Germans--as pointed out, a totally offensive reversal of what happened, because it was the German Third Reich that had a "Final Solution" for the Jewish people. If you don't understand what is antisemitic about Calvert's presentation and why such propaganda should not be circulated, you should begin to educate yourself on the issues, because as of now you have helped out some really ugly organizing.

As you are aware, Rose City Antifa first raised the issue of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance's work with antisemites, white supremacists and Holocaust-deniers over three years ago. You've nonetheless tagged along with the Alliance well after they were exposed as an antisemitic organization. If you have made a horrible choice of who to work with politically, it's certainly okay to admit such terrible decisions, apologize, and to do things differently in the future. It actually does matter who you promote politically and do work with, and it's possible that you will be criticized when you promote hardline bigots.

If people are unsure about what antisemitism is, how it shows itself, or how to oppose it, one good initial resource would be April Rosenblum's pamphlet "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere: Making Resistance to Antisemitism Part of All of Our Movements", available online for free here:

Unfortunately, indymedia is regurgitating false facts about me and what is sad is that they are using them to target someone else unrelated to me. They accuse me of being anti-semitic. They would be surprised to find out where I worship. They claim I bombed something---ignoring the fact that that charge was dropped by the court. And the bomb in question was a propane tank in a bag that never exploded. I am not going to waste time on the lies that were written, but people are welcome to go to my blog pentracks.com and read what I really say instead of believing your lies.

Fritz Springmeier's response to this article is quite far from honest. While Springmeier's charge of using and carrying a destructive device was not sent to the jury following a court ruling at trial, Springmeier was nevertheless convicted of one charge of armed bank robbery as well as a charge stemming from use of a firearm during that bank robbery. The jury decided that Springmeier so closely aided and abetted the robbery plot as to be criminally liable for the actions of other robbers, such as Bateman's discharge of a firearm during the robbery, which Springmeier knew was part of the plan.

Testimony from one of Springmeier's co-conspirators heard during trial made clear that Springmeier was indeed involved in both planning and carrying out the robbery--including such aspects as the diversionary use of a destructive device at an adult video store. When one is intimately involved in a conspiracy including the setting of a bomb, it is quite right to be labeled as a bomber, whatever the status of the related criminal charge. The jury, in convicting on the other charges, made it clear that in their view Springmeier was a full part of the bank robbery plot. Springmeier now alleges that the bomb at the adult video store never exploded, despite even Springmeier's supporters such as antisemitic conspiracy theorist Henry Makow previously using the word "exploded" to describe what happened. Needless to say, press accounts of the bombing/bank robbery also describe the bomb as being "detonated". Rather strangely, Springmeier seems to think that by pointing out that the device included a propane tank, the bomb somehow becomes less of a serious matter.

Springmeier's antisemitism is not in any doubt, despite Springmeier's protest to the contrary. Springmeier's Bloodlines of the Illuminati for example writes of the Jewish people in the following way:

"One group that has been very easy for Satan to provoke against Christians is the Jews. Perhaps no group of people has hated Christians with more intensity. One of the first groups that Satan worked at controlling were the Jews."

Although Springmeier afterwards states that the world conspiracy he alleges is essentially Satanic rather than essentially Jewish, this does little to actually moderate his argument, especially as Springmeier goes on to target the "Rothschilds" as the central family of his alleged Satanic conspiracy.

Springmeier was also active in the Christian Patriots Association. I provided a link earlier in this thread about the CPA and its politics--these politics contained pronounced antisemitic and racist aspects. Springmeier's denial is therefore highly unconvincing.

The idea that the aim of antifascists is just to "target someone else unrelated to" Springmeier is misleading for a couple of reasons. Firstly, antifascists actually do oppose Springmeier, for reasons of Springmeier's antisemitism and extreme-Right politics set forth in the initial article. Citybikes President Tim Calvert did associate himself with Springmeier, the facts of the association also having been set out in the initial article. Calvert secured a location for both of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance events featuring Springmeier, and actively organized for and promoted the September 2011 event including Springmeier. Contrary to Springmeier, therefore, Calvert is very much related to him as well and to Springmeier's public appearances.

The blog Springmeier is plugging to prove he's not anti Semite not so surprisingly has Anti-Semite material:

pentracks.com/blog/2011/04/hello-world/

"The Nazis were largely funded by Illuminati Jewish multinationals"
"The Rothschild's Royal Dutch Shell, run by Jews,"

Mr. Springmeier has never learned the first rule of holes. Or maybe the goal of his post is to bait less Interwebs savvy anti fascists into visiting his website and being recorded in server logs. He might seriously believe there's a government/zionist conspiracy to "shut down 911 groups in Portland" like some idiot says below.

Rense was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Southern California. Rense worked as a television news reporter, producer and anchor for Santa Barbara's ABC affiliate, KEYT-TV. He performed the same duties for two TV stations in the Northwest in the early to mid-1980s, chiefly Oregon NBC affiliate KOBI-TV, where he spent several years. He left the business after jobs in Oregon and at a Las Vegas, Nevada television stations. Later, Rense returned to Santa Barbara and opened several "All About Pets" stores, which he sold in the early-1990s. Rense hosts a web site on the music and life of tenor Mario Lanza. In 2007, 3 CDs of rare recordings of Mario Lanza's were released which Rense produced.[5]

Just had another look at the article and it seems that Springmeier's discussion of the propane tank could be a response to a characterization of the device as a "pipe bomb." I do not have any special information on assembly of Springmeier's bomb, but the term "pipe bomb" was indeed used in a KATU News report following Springmeier's conviction.

Find attached the 1997 Oregonian article concerning the Fantasyland bombing and Key Bank robbery. The device deployed in the Fantasyland attack was indeed a pipe bomb. The bomb did not function fully, with the propane canisters mentioned by Springmeier failing to explode, although the shotgun shell part of the bomb detonated. It is hardly to Springmeier's credit that the device did not function entirely as intended--it seems quite possible that the device could have killed or caused grave injury had this occurred.

Springmeier's claim that "the bomb in question was a propane tank in a bag that never exploded" is therefore highly misleading.

You need to be able to evaluate sources and judge which is the most credible. The mainstream media does indeed get things wrong at times, but the only sources being pointed to by Calvert, Springmeier and company in their defense are from explicitly antisemitic propaganda websites (such as Henry Makow, who argues in a piece frequently cited by Fritzemeier supporters that "the 'bomb' was a propane tank").

If you can provide sources that are more credible than those cited by the antifascists, then by all means bring them forward--that certainly does not include clear disinformation from antisemitic authors. Note that the Oregonian article was from just three days after the bombing, years before Springmeier was investigated for his part in the bombing/robbery plot. So, the characterization of the bomb was certainly not an attempt to unfairly portray Springmeier in any way--the author simply didn't know that Springmeier was involved.

This aversion to MSM sources rises to a fetish with crypto-fascists trying to "out left" leftists to blend in. It's absurd. MSM has bias and omissions, but rarely makes things up out of the blue, except when falling for a well crafted hoax. Certainly local criminal reports are usually accurate, and quickly corrected. But if MSM sources got you down, try the videos linked here about Calvert and Joe Anybody:

Readers should be aware the crypto fascist network in Portland(which includes the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance)is worried by this latest Antifa expose. They aren't even spamming the comment like usual. Many of these people have been operating in progressive/anarchist circles FOR YEARS under the radar. Only recently has their connections to Nazi propagandists come to light or been put into context. A short list:

Without knowing their connections through front groups, most people have dismissed their antics as "crazy", or misguided. Now the community needs to seriously consider a plan of action to neutralize any members of Nazi friendly front groups from infiltrating leftist organizations in Portland. Lives might be at stake( see Tim Titrud and Elinski(elinsky?) try to get personal details after an Antifascist was shot> http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/05/399194.shtml?discuss

The community needs to come up with a no tolerance policy. Make no mistake: members of the "truth alliance" are already planning how they're going to try to take control of this IMC. They will probably field volunteers. They may send someone at the next meeting. Glen Owen of KBOO infamy was rumored to be an indy bee at one point. It sucks because indy needs volunteers and this is how the right exploits the left to try to hijack it.

I wouldn't be surprised if more information/people came forward in the aftermath of Calvert's event. This Antifa expose proves the anti Semite propagandists didn't go away. They're organizing quietly. Antifa needs to do the same.

I think that the available documentation strongly supports the characterization of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance as an antisemitic organization. The Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance is clearly a group that promotes Holocaust-deniers, white supremacists and various other bigots. However, I'm not sure that discussion of a more general "crypto fascist network" is helpful in getting a grip on what's going on. I'm not convinced that such a broader network, involving the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance as just one part, actually exists in any strong sense, considered as a consciously organized political entity. This is not to say that the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance exists in a political vacuum--it does not. Certainly one should address the specific alliances built by the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance, but I personally think that positing some sort of concrete "crypto fascist network" at work is a bit much, and sounds a bit too conspiratorial as an account. Antisemitic and extreme-Right organizers do work together frequently, but they do not necessarily form a monolithic bloc. They should all be consistently opposed, though.

I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to just throw out names that at one point were associated with the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance, or people who have some link to people from that organization. Not all of the names given out are particularly relevant to a discussion of the issues at hand. Crystal Elinski, for example, did not show any journalistic ethics or integrity in her coverage of the April 24 2010 Portland anti-racist event referenced by "---". In effect Elinski helped out Tim Titrud in that instance, and it's fair to criticize her for such activity. However, there is simply no evidence I'm aware of that Elinski is an operative for some alleged "crypto fascist network" in Portland. Elinski's failings are not central issues right now.

Likewise, Petros Evdokas should likely be criticized for his promotion of antisemite Kevin Barrett, but Evdokas does not seem to have been involved in any of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance events under discussion in the antifascist article. In fact, Evdokas has raised his voice previously against the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance building links with the Constitution Party and white supremacists, and has even made statements against antisemitism in the past. Is Evdokas in the same impossible position as much of the hard-Left, trying to differentiate between antisemitism that deserves support and antisemitism that deserves condemnation? The argument could be made. Is Evdokas part of a "crypto fascist network", however? That is not the most straightforward explanation, it seems to me. I don't see proof that Evdokas is a current active member of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance, although he posts on some email lists.

I feel that going through the other names one by one would be counterproductive. Some of these figures have indeed been deeply involved in the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance and other antisemitic activism. Brian McManus for example circulates Holocaust-denial propaganda and has admitted that he was part of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance contingent at David Irving's 2009 event in Portland (this can be easily verified through searches for comments by McManus under his own name as well as his "Halliburton Crusher" internet handle.) However, not everyone mentioned in the "---" list is part of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance's organizational core, actively doing event organizing right now--although several are frequent posters on the 9/11 Truth Alliance email list. It is true that in the political realm one is partially known by the company one keeps, but just throwing out names because of a past or present association does not help in keeping the political issues as sharply-defined as I believe they ought to be. Certainly people who know folk close to the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance should challenge those folk to break their ties, however.

I agree that there is something of a battle going on regarding Portland alternative media institutions and issues of antisemitism. I also agree that the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance should be taken seriously as political actors pushing an extremely ugly agenda, and that they should not be accepted within allegedly progressive, Left or radical spaces. I think that the antisemites of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance have attempted to exploit such projects as Laughing Horse in the past, and should be shown the door when they try to promote their politics. However, I think that the best way to keep things in focus is to start having real political discussions about what antisemitism is and how to oppose it. Within some spaces, there may be an unspoken belief that everybody who differs from the status quo is somehow part of a worthwhile political alternative--a dangerous assumption to make. Even in the case of groups like the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance trying to exert influence in an organized manner within allegedly egalitarian and socially-conscious projects, they will not get very far if there is political clarity and a real commitment to opposing antisemitism. Rose City Antifa can be useful in pointing out some of the most extreme antisemitic organizers, as well as arguing for minimal stop-gap responses such as for Tim Calvert to be fired by Citybikes, but unless there is a broader commitment to self-education around issues of racism and antisemitism, then the basic problems will unfortunately persist. As much as I think that the specifics of antisemitic organizing should be addressed--such as the particular events organized by the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance--I think that the political big picture is the most important thing to keep in mind.

"I don't see proof that Evdokas is a current active member of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance, although he posts on some email lists."

"2162
Two Hit, Three Down, By Lynn Margulis Petros Evdokas petros_evdokas
Prof. Lynn Margulis is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science, and Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the...
Jul 1, 2011 2:22 pm

2161
Re: The 9/11 Commission Campaign - rollout July 4th letter Tim Titrud timtitrud
Mark: I did talk with Mike Gravel a couple of days ago. He will be in Portland next week and the Portland 911 Truth Alliance will meet with him to assist in...
Jul 1, 2011 1:33 pm
"

FWIW agree we need to be careful about overstating the situation and some authors could be clearer. However observe none of the clowns are denying it. And "crypto fascist network" does not necessarily imply a "monolithic bloc". That's a strawman. A network can be a loose association of allies...which these are.

I agree with this generally:
"Rose City Antifa can be useful in pointing out some of the most extreme antisemitic organizers, as well as arguing for minimal stop-gap responses such as for Tim Calvert to be fired by Citybikes, but unless there is a broader commitment to self-education around issues of racism and antisemitism, then the basic problems will unfortunately persist. As much as I think that the specifics of antisemitic organizing should be addressed--such as the particular events organized by the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance--I think that the political big picture is the most important thing to keep in mind. "

But effectiveness will be serious curtailed if you keep getting duped by "fellow travelers" who hide their association with these groups by this tactic: "raised his voice previously against the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance building links with the Constitution Party and white supremacists, and has even made statements against antisemitism in the past."

It's simple: he's lying. And apparently if anyone confronts Petros about his association with Tim Titrud, Evdokas will accuse them of being a "Cass Sunstein agent", which is more anti-Semitic conspiracy propaganda.

The Rose City Antifa are Fascist, Zionist, Cointelpro Brownshirt provocateurs whose method of operation is to harass, smear, harm, and disable the real Leftist activists and Leftist activism in the Portland area.

The Rose City Antifa wear masks to hide their faces, they do not use their real names, and they openly threaten physical violence against those they label and libel as "enemies of the community."

The Rose City Antifa never participate in pro-Palestinian rallies or events, because the Rose City Antifa are closet Zionists. The Rose City Antifa have savagely attacked and harassed the well-known Portland Leftist activist Tim Calvert because Calvert is pro-Palestinian and a proponent of 9/11 Truth.

The Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance includes, and welcomes, members who are gay, lesbian, black, Hispanic, Jewish, Atheist, and whatever. The Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance is anti-war, anti-Imperialist, and predominantly Leftist. The Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance meetings and membership have always been open to anyone who wishes to attend.

Rose City Antifa Threatens Portland with Vigilante Violence

The Rose City Antifa and their allied organization, Anti-Racist Action, both threaten vigilante-style violence, and both the Rose City Antifa and Anti-Racist Action express their contempt for the Rule of Law. Just Google "antifa violence".

"We don't believe in waiting for the police to handle the fascists and racists, either. We know their job is to protect and serve us with harassment, beatings and arrests. We know that institutions like the police and prisons can never be "fixed" or "reformed" if their function is to maintain a racist and homophobic power structure. We believe that we need a dedicated and large force of militant antifascists with great intelligence, analysis, and dedication to crushing emerging extreme Right and fascist movements." - Rose City Antifa website.

"If you can get away it [sic], carry weapons, or if there's a chance you might get searched by cops, carry items that can be used as weapons in a pinch (hefty flagpoles, thick placard sticks, batteries, maglights, bike locks).... And don't forget your masks—nothing makes the fascists tremble like a group of black-clad, balaclava-wearing Antifa bearing down on them." - Anti-Racist Action website.

"On May 19, 2012, up to 20 people wearing masks and black clothes entered the Ashford House Restaurant in Tinley Park (a suburb of Chicago) and used bats and hammers to beat patrons who were attending the fifth annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet. Five members of Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement, which is part of the Anti-Racist Action Network, were subsequently charged with felony counts of mob action, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property." - Anti-Racist Action Wikipedia page.

"On April 15, 2011, ARA members confronted the National Socialist Movement's annual conference in Pemberton, New Jersey. A melee ensued with reports indicating that four members of the NSM being hospitalized and the conference being shut down." - Anti-Racist Action Wikipedia page.

The Rose City Antifa and their allied organization, Anti-Racist Action, are violent extremists who want to replace the Rule of Law with Mob Rule under the Diktat of the anonymous Antifa and Anti-Racist Action thugs and their anonymous leaders.

Portland Anarchist Caught After Fire Bombing Police Car

Police: Man on Bike Threw Fire Bomb at Police Car
By KATU News and KATU.com Staff Published: Nov 5, 2012 at 7:44 AM PST
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Police have a suspect in custody they said threw a molotov cocktail at a police car early Monday morning as he rode past a precinct parking lot on a bicycle. Sergey Yefimobich Turzhanskiy, 24, was arrested just after 1:30 a.m. after police said he threw a fire bomb at an unoccupied police cruiser parked in the North Precinct parking lot in the 400 block of NE Emerson Street. Police said Turzhanskiy is charged with attempted arson, possession of a destructive device, attempt to elude, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration. Arson investigators with Portland Fire and Rescue are also looking into the incident. Turzhanskiy is due in court on Tuesday, according to police.
link to www.katu.com

From: http://anarchistnews.org/anon - Tue, 2012-11-06 01:02 Tags: Anarchist Practice Portland
Sergey is a friend of ours who was arrested early this morning on suspicion of firebombing a cop car in NE Portland. Their family says Sergey was beat up by the police while in custody and is in the medical unit. They are being held on three felony and three misdemeanor charges, including attempted arson. Please come to Sergey's arraignment tomorrow (Tuesday): 2pm in Courtroom 3 of the Justice Center in downtown Portland. Please donate to Sergey's legal support fund! This money is going toward their $3000+ bail and to pay for a lawyer. The sooner Sergey's family can raise bail, the sooner Sergey will be out.
https://www.wepay.com/donations/free-sergey

"We don't rely on the cops or courts to do our work for us. This doesn't mean we never go to court, but the cops uphold white supremacy and the status quo. They attack us and everyone who resists oppression. We must rely on ourselves to protect ourselves and stop the fascists. In ARA, we have lots of different groups and individuals. We don't agree about everything and we have a right to differ openly. But in this movement an attack on one is an attack on us all. We stand behind each other." -- Rose City Antifa website http://rosecityantifa.org/

The Islamophobic advertising campaign that has already appeared in New York City and San Francisco has come to Portland. Bus ads reading "In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man" as well as "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad," will be visible on TriMet vehicles. The ad is financed by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and also promotes the New York-based group Stop Islamization of America (SOIA). The Islamophobic SOIA organization first gained notoriety during the 2010 controversy around the plans for building an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City.
Islamophobic Ads Reach TriMet

10/18/2012

The Islamophobic advertising campaign that has already appeared in New York City and San Francisco has come to Portland. Bus ads reading "In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man" as well as "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad," will be visible on TriMet vehicles. The ad is financed by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and also promotes the New York-based group Stop Islamization of America (SOIA). The Islamophobic SOIA organization first gained notoriety during the 2010 controversy around the plans for building an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City.

Pamela Geller, a central agitator for both AFDI and SOIA who is behind the advertisement campaigns, considers the Obama presidency to be a pawn of Muslim conspiracy, and has suggested that the President is actually an illegitimate child of Malcolm X. Geller's writings were praised by and cited in the manifesto of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik. Geller, following Breivik's 2011 attacks, stated that Breivik's victims at the Utøya camp had they survived would have become "future leaders of the party responsible for flooding Norway with Muslims who refuse to assimilate, who commit major violence against Norwegian natives including violent gang rapes, with impunity, and who live on the dole."

Rose City Antifascists condemn the Islamophobic advertising campaign and its brazen attempt at spreading fear and hatred against Muslims in the US. Such a climate has led to an escalation of violence against Muslims and those that are perceived to be Muslim.[read more]
***********************************************************************************

So much for Antifa being Israeli Zionist agents. Now go back to your brownshirt closet, Darcy. You're not fooling anyone.

Petros Evdokas is Sooo 2007. Most current members of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance, who have been with the group since 2008, have never met Petros Evdokas and don't know him from Adam, because Petros Evdokas has not attended a Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance meeting or event for the past four years. If Tim Titrude has had more recent personal contact with Petros Evdokas, that's news to the rest of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance members. Most people in the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance have never met Petros Evdokas and they wouldn't recognize him if they saw him, and they also don't know what his views are on anything.

Rex, your placement of Petros Evdokas at the core of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance is just one of many indications of the uninformed, misinformed, and speculative quality of your fantasy narrative of the Portland 9/11 Truth Alliance. You don't know, so you just make things up.

Math isn't your strong suit. You can deny the Truther Alliance's association with Petros all day long, but he was managing the private list, APPROVING COMMENTS, until 2011.

2011. Did you get that date again? 2011..... NOT 2007.

As of 2015 current members include Richard Frager and Tim Titrud...both of whom know the Petros scammer. Petro's friend Glenn Goldman took over Titrud's AEtruther branch. Leaving aside the quotes from the email list you're ignoring...FROM 2011...they're all networked together at Facebook.

Either MadameG is yet another victim of their lies or MadameG is a shill for the Truther group doing damage control. Maybe if the truther group didn't lie so much about who they were they wouldn't have to spend so much time spinning and attacking critics.